It is known to apply wear-resistant coatings on areas of tools which are exposed to high wear. The application of said wear-resistant coatings is effected, for example, by welding using hard-metal electrodes, through the application of the coating material with the help of plasma welding and by spraying (flame spraying) flowable metal powder. These conventional methods for applying wear-resistant coatings are, however, all expensive and complicated. When such coatings are applied by welding with the help of hard-metal electrodes, the coatings are brittle, tearsensitive and breakage-sensitive. When hard-metal layers are applied with the help of flame spraying of flowable metal powder, a great material loss occurs. This is also true for the plasma welding.
In particular, these methods are not economical if large working surfaces are supposed to be provided with wear-resistant coatings, as is the case, for example, with plowshares and other earth-working tools. Moreover, especially in the case of plowshares, it is necessary that the treated surface be as smooth as possible so that a small frictional resistance to the earth exists. In the conventional method, as a rule, an after-treatment is required to obtain a smooth surface and this, since hard layers are involved, is work-intensive and time consuming.